This invention relates to compounds having a vinyl group and a hydroxyl group as terminal groups of the compound. More particularly, this invention relates to monomers which possess a vinyl ether substituent and a hydroxyl substituent.
Urethane polymers have had great commercial success when used as protective coatings, films and adhesives. The genesis for these polymers is usually a monomer having both an acrylic functional group and a hydroxyl functional group. In the process for making a protective coating or film the hydroxyl group is converted to a urethane group by reaction with an isocyanate. The resulting acrylic urethane monomer is then applied to a surface and cured thereon by radiation. However, this process for producing urethane coatings and films has many shortcomings.
Since the polymerization and curing of acrylic functional groups proceeds by a free radical mechanism, polymerization and curing must be carried out in the absence of air, a known free radical inhibitor. The oxygen free atmosphere can be achieved by effecting the polymerization under a blanket of nitrogen; however this requirement greatly increases the cost of the process.
Another disadvantage in the preparation of acrylic urethane coatings is that a curing rate sufficiently high to meet certain requirements such as coatings for automotive fascia, etc., are not achievable by radiation exposure. Finally, it is found that urethane coatings made from acrylic urethane monomers have poor adhesion to hard, smooth surfaces such as metal or glass.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a compound which can be converted to a urethane monomer having a high radiation cure rate in the absence or presence of air to produce a coating of excellent adherence to hard surfaces such as glass or metal.
Another object is to provide an economical and commercially feasible process for the manufacture of the present compounds.
Still another object is to provide a substrate coated with the present compound which possesses superior stability.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and disclosure.